I remember evangelizing back in the 1990s. When the topic of contradictions would come up in conversations, we would simply state that there are no contradictions in the Bible and the issue was pretty much over. Today we live in a very different world. Now when you make that statement, the person you are speaking to does a google search, and within minutes sends you a list of 400 contradictions in the Bible.

This subject has become a big stumbling block for many non-Christians who are able to confirm their suspicion with hundreds of websites and YouTube videos which claim the Bible is full of contradictions. We have to take these claims very seriously when we hear them because even one contradiction undermines the credibility of our Biblical claims. The logic of course is very valid. If the Bible has internal contradictions, then it cannot be trusted and certainly cannot be inspired by God.

There are four Gospels which give a biographical sketch of the life and ministry of Jesus. Many events are parallel among them though they don’t always agree in detail. Events such as how many angels were at the tomb on the day of resurrection, what the sign on the cross said, and how many women went to the tomb are recorded differently. But imagine if each of four children had to write a biography about their mother's life. Of course the details of the events would vary to some degree. Despite the fact that the Bible gives different accounts of the same events, all can be reconciled. As an example, there are four accounts of the time that the women went to visit the tomb.

Matthew 28:1: ‘At dawn…went to look at the tomb’.

Mark 16:2 ‘Very early…just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb’.

Luke 24:1: ‘Very early in the morning…went to the tomb’.

John 20:1: ‘Early…while it was still dark…went to the tomb’.

Mark's account is the one that seems to deviate from the others. But of course it is perfectly reasonable to assume that the sun had risen between the time they left the house and their walk across Jerusalem. This kind of discrepancy in the details of the accounts should be expected from four people who are writing about the same event at different times which is evidence they did not corroborate their stories.

Though I don't believe it is a good idea to get overly entangled on the issue of contradictions, I think it is important to be able to defend the Bible against such false claims. Below are three rules that will help solve many apparent contradictions you may face.

What is a Contradiction?First, we must clarify what a contradiction is.A contradiction occurs when two different statements on a topic cannot both be true at the same time and in the same sense. As an example, the statements, ‘There are two windows in this room’ and ‘there are no windows in this room’ are contradictory and cannot be reconciled, because 'no windows' excludes 'two windows' in every sense. The statements, ‘There are only two windows in this room’ and ‘there are three windows in this room’ are contradictory because the world only excludes the possibility of three windows. Now, by contrast, suppose I said 'there are two windows in this room' and someone else said 'there are three window in this room'. This is not a contradiction because there are two windows contained within the three window room.

As another example, suppose I said 'John's shirt is blue' and someone else said 'there is no blue on John's shirt'. This of course is a contradiction, because blue and no blue cannot be reconciled. Like all contradictions, at least one and perhaps both statements are false. Suppose now I said 'John's shirt is blue' and someone else said 'Johns shirt is white'. This is not a contradiction because John could have a blue and white stripped shirt.

When we understand the nature of a contradiction, we will see that there are no contradictions in the Bible. All the apparent contradictions can be reconciled, usually with just a little thought.

What is a Paradox?A paradox is a statement which appears at first to be a contradiction but can be reconciled. For example, if a friend asks me what I did for lunch and I say 'I went to Burger King', and later another asks me what I did for lunch and I say 'I went to the pharmacy' this appears to be a contradiction. Further investigation will identify that within an hour I have time to do both. A paradox initially appears to be contradictory or illogical but once investigated, it can be reasonably understood.

A biblical example would be when John 20:1 reports that Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and Mathew 28:1 reports that Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to the tomb. There is no contradiction here, John simply did not include "the other Mary" in his account. Verse 2 of John 20 brings clarity when it states that, Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.” The "we" in this statement by Mary indicates that she was not alone.

Another Biblical example is when John 19:17 reports that Jesus went out carrying the cross to the Place of the Skull. Matthew 27:31,32 claims that Simon carried the cross. But a closer look indicates the Jesus was led out to be crucified and that it was only as they were going to Golgotha that Simon was forced to carry the cross. Mark 15:20,21 which gives us more information, starts the scene from the hall called Praetorium inside the palace. This implies that Jesus carried his cross for some distance, from the palace into the street.

Mark 15:23 reports that the two thieves crucified with Jesus mocked him while Luke 23:43 claims one defended him. This is pretty straight forward. The obvious solution is that both thieves mocked Jesus initially. During the time they were hanging on the cross one of the thieves seems to have had a change of heart and repented on the cross, while the other continued in his mocking. Presumably the change of heart happened after Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing,”

All four Gospels give a slightly different account of the words that were written on the sign above Jesus' head while on the cross. This paradox is solved by reading John 19:20 which says; “Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek.”

Most paradoxes can be solved by simply looking at the context and thinking it through a bit.

What is a Mystery?A mystery is something hard for the human mind to grasp as we are limited in our capacity to understand the depth of God and the nature of Heaven. While a mystery cannot contain contradictions, it is something that appears unintelligible given our limited knowledge. Examples include the trinity, virgin birth, and an eternal God. The New Testament makes reference to mysteries 21 times, many of which are revealed in the New Testament.

Other Possible "Contradictions" Solved. Scribal errorsWhile they are rare, there are a few errors of transmitting in the Bibles we currently read. In 2 Kings 8:26; Ahaziah is said to have been 22 when he became king, while in 2 Chronicles 22:2 claims Ahaziah was 42 when he became king. Clearly a scribe got this wrong when transmitting the scripture. Fortunately 2 Kings 8:17 clears this up and ensures us the the correct age is 22. Such scribal errors do not change Jewish or Christian beliefs in the least.

Time lapse between recordAnother possible scribal error can be found in 1 Kings 4:26 which reports that Solomon had 40,000 stalls for his horses and 2 Chronicles 9:25 reports that he had 4,000 stalls. There are several ways to solve this problem. The first is that a zero had been rubbed out or distorted from early manuscripts or that a scribe left out or added a zero. Possibly the stalls mentioned in 2 Chronicles were large ones that housed 10 horses each. Therefore 4,000 of these large stalls would be equivalent to 40,000 small ones. The most apparent explanation is that the number of stalls recorded in 2 Chronicles was the number at the beginning of Solomon’s reign, the number recorded in 1 Kings was the number of stalls at the end. Having reigned 40 years certainly the number of horses and stalls could have increased by that many.

Genealogy Matthew 1:6 reports that Jesus descended from Solomon, Luke 3:31 reports that he descended from Nathan, both of whom are sons of David. This is straight forward, Matthew gives Joseph’s genealogy and Luke gives that of Mary. It is clear that Joseph was descended from David through Solomon and Mary through Nathan.

Summary verses detail account Acts 1:18 claims Judas bought a field with his blood-money for betraying Jesus, Matthew 27:5 claims he threw it into the Temple. The account in Matthew indicates that the silver was thrown down on the Temple floor from where the priests used it to buy a field. A closer look indicates that the passage in Acts is just a summary of the other.

Proper Biblical understanding Genesis 2:17 claims Adam would die the same day he eats of the tree while Genesis 5:5 claims he continues to live to the age of 930 years. The Bible describes death in three ways; 1) Physical death on earth, 2) spiritual death which is separation from God, and 3) eternal death in hell. The death spoken of in Genesis 2:17 is clearly spiritual death, while the death mentioned in Genesis 5:5 is physical death, which ends our present life.